Roller-feeding device for flour-mills



No. 609,719. Patented Aug. 23, I898 J. wiyEAaini noun: resume DEVICE FOR noun mus.

' Application filed my 24, 1897.)

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No. 609,7l9.

. Patented Aug. 23, I898.

J. W. YEAGEB. ROLLER FEEDING DEVICE FOR FLOUR MILLS.

(Application filed May 24, 1897.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

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NITED STATES PATE T OFFICE.

JAMES YEAGER, OF-WAVERLY, MISSOURI.

ROLLER-FEEDING DEVICE FOR FLOUR-=MlLLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 609,719, dated August 23, 1898. Application filed May 24, 1897. Serial No. 637,986.' on) model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES W. YEAGER, of

lVaverly, Lafayette county, Missouri, have and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart thereof.

My invention relates to roller-feeding devices for flour-mills, and is designed particu-;

larly as an improvement in the machine of like character patented by L. Nolden and A. E. May on September 15,1885, and numbered 326,447. Said structure embodies a skeleton roller to lift the stock to the point of discharge and an adjustable gage whereby the volume of stock lifted and discharged over the gage may in the aggregate. be increased or diminished; but as the rods or arms of said roller elevate varying quantities of stock, due to the effect produced on the. stock by atmospheric conditions, rendering it more or less dry in parts, the volume of stock fed to the rollers is not evenly and uniformly distributed, and consequently the latter are liable to become choked up and the process or operation delayed. To remedy this very serious defect is my chief object, and it is accomplished by combining with the said roller a similar but smaller roller, the latter being arranged within the former and driven in the opposite direction, to the end that its rods or arms as they move downward shall succes sively cut through successive loads ofstock lifted by the adjacent-or upwardly-moving rods orarms of the outer roller and dividing or separating said loads beat or push back the inner divisions or that portion within the circle described by said rods or arms and permit the outer divisions or that exterior of the said circle to be discharged over the gage, the discharged stream being obviously limited in thickness tothe space between the said cir-. cle and the gage-board, because the rods or arms of the rollers pass each other as they reach the horizontal plane of the upper part of the gage, consequently insuring an even and uniform supply to the rollers.

To the above purpose the invention consists-in certain novel and peculiar. features of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

\ In orderthat the inventionmay be fully understood, I will proceed to describe it with reference to the accompanying drawings, in 'which-- t Figure 1 isa vertical cross-section of a machine for rolling stock, which is provided with a feeding device embodying my invenltion. Fig.- 2 is a horizontal section taken on the line 2 2 of the same. perspective view of one of the rotary feeding Fig. 3 is a detailed devices. Fig. 4 is a vertical section, on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1.

In the said drawings, 1 designates the easing or framework of the machine, and 2 designates a central vertical partition, which divides the casing into the similar compartments 3. Said compartments at their upper ends and near their lower ends, respectively, are provided with the hinged lids or doors 4 and 5, and is also divided to form the lower compartment or compartments 6 by means of the horizontal partition 7 and the inclined partitions 8, said partitions S converging upwardly from the partition 7 to the vertical central partition 2, so as to form deflecting or guide surfaces for the stock, as hereinafter more particularly referred. to. The compartments 3 and 6 are also partitioned-off from each other by the gage boards or plates 9, which are arranged vertically 'at the outer ends of the partition 7 and project above the same some distance. This distance may be increased or diminished so as to regulate in the aggregate the quantity of stock which passes over said gage boards or plates, owing to the fact that they are slidingly arranged between the vertical and parallel guide-cleats 10, secured to the walls of the casing, and this adjustment is accomplished by means of the vertical rods or arms 11, which are secured at theirlower ends to said gages, and at their upper ends project through the casing and are engaged externally thereof by wing-nuts 12, which may be turned in one direction or the other in order to raise or lower the gages. The gages at their upper ends are beveled, preferably, so that none of the stockwill lodge upon their upper ends, but will drop vertically downward between the crushing-rolls 13 of the ordinary construction and arrangement.

Located in the lower. end of each compartment 3 and adjacent to the partitions 7 and 8 and the gages 9 are my improved devices for spreading and evenly distributing the stock as it is fed over the gages to the crushing-rolls. These devices are constructed as follows, and as they are precisely similar in construction or duplicates the description of one will suffice for both: 14 designates disks, which are connected near their peripheries by the cir-.

cular series of parallel rods 15, which are tapped with opposite threads at their ends and screwed into said disks so as to constitute a skeleton roller. Said disks are in turn screwed upon the hollow or tubular journals 16, which are journaled rotatably in the side Walls of the casing. One of them projects beyond the external surface of the casing and carries rigidly thereon the pulley 17,which is adapted to be driven by a belt connected to a countershaft or other motive power. 18 designates a shaft, which is j ournaled rotatably in the hollow journals 16, and said shaft projects beyond the outer end of one of the journals 16 and carries rigidly a belt-pulley 19, which may also be connected to any suitable countershaft or motive power for driving it in the opposite direction to the pulley l7. Arranged around the shaft 18, at the inner sides of the disks 14, are the disks 20, and these are secured rigidly upon the shaft 18 by means of the set-screws 21 and are connected together near their peripheries by the circular series of parallel rods or arms 22, which are also screw-threaded in opposite directions at their ends to engage said disks or wheels 20.

In practical operation after the machinery is started the stock is permitted to descend from the supply-spouts 23 upon the inclined partitions or deflectors 8 and the rotary feeding-rollers, as I shall hereinafter term said devices. The outer roller rotates in the direction of the oncoming stock, while the inner roller rotates in opposition to the stock, as indicated by arrows, Fig. 1. The outer rollers therefore tend to carry the stock around and up to the upper edges of the gages in considerable quantity; but this is prevented by the oppositely-rotating inner rollers, which serve to spread and evenly distribute the stock throughout the whole length of the rollers and to confine it to a uniform depth, thickness, or layer, which is determined by the quantity fed into the machine from the spouts 23 and by the radial distance between the upper edges of the gages and the circle described by the rods or arms of the inner rollers. In other words, the stream of stock which is carried up to the upper end of the gages in width about equals thelength of the rotary feeding devices and is of uniform thickness about equal to the radial distance between the periphery of the inner roller and the gage measured in a horizontal direction. At the points where the stream or volume of stock carried upward by the outer roller is thicker than already stated it is in efiect cut or shaved oif from the forwardly-moving stream by the oppositely and downwardly roand the resultant product is more satisfactory than can possibly be obtained where the stock is fed to the rolls unevenly and in uncertain quantities. To increase the quantity fed to said rolls, and consequently increase the fineness of the product, the gages 9 may be lowered, While if a coarser product is preferred or desirable it can be obtained by simply raising the gages, and thereby diminishing the quantity forced over the gages by the feeding devices or cages, as will be readily understood.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced feeding devices which are entirely automatic in their operation and which will effectually spread and distribute I evenly the stock passing to the crushing-rolls.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a roller-feeding device for flour-mills, a suitable casing provided with two compartments, an adjustable gage between said compartments,a driven roller within one compartment, having rods or arms to lift the stock and discharge it over said gage into the other compartment, and a second roller driven in the opposite direction and provided with rods or arms arranged to successively pass successive rods or arms of the other roller as the latter attain positions adjacent to and in about the same horizontal plane as the upper edges of said gages, substantially as described.

2. In a roller-feeding device for flour-mills, a suitable casing provided with two compartments, an adjustable gage between said compartments,a driven roller within one compartment having rods or arms to lift the stock and discharge it over said gage into the other compartment, a second roller driven in the opposite direction and provided with rods or arms arranged to successively pass successive rods or arms of the other roller as they attain positions adjacent to and in about the same horizontal plane as the upper edges of said gages, and a pair of crushing-rolls arranged in the said other compartment to receive the stock discharged over the gage-board, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES W. YEAGER.

Witnesses:

W. H. LAUDRIEUS, GEO. W. WHITE. 

